


sick day

by aileenwood



Series: post-endgame irondad oneshots [5]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Big Brother Peter Parker, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Sick Peter Parker, Sickfic, Slice of Life, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-23 22:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21089135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aileenwood/pseuds/aileenwood
Summary: He plops down on the couch next to Morgan, who's attentively watching My Little Pony on Netflix. He can hear Tony and Pepper cooking in the kitchen, and the smell of homemade tomato sauce drifting from there.Peter closes his eyes, resting the back of his head against the soft cushion of the couch. He hears Morgan giggling at a particular funny line and Pepper complaining about something Tony's done in the kitchen, but soon these sounds become muted and he starts to fall asleep.He almost dozes off when he startles himself with a violent sneeze.Morgan jumps from where she's sat next to him, looking at him with wide eyes before saying, "Bless you."





	sick day

The shrill sound of the bell indicating the end of the last period of the day is definitely the best thing Peter has ever heard. Mrs. Warren starts reminding them about the next week's quiz, but her voice gets muffled by the sound of Peter's classmates packing their bags and dragging their chairs across the floor noisily as they stand up. Peter is able to hear it due to his super hearing, so he messily writes down a reminder on his planner before throwing everything inside his bag and hurrying up to catch up with Ned who is already waiting by the door.

"So, MJ and Betty told me during lunch they want to go grab some pizza tonight, are you in? I think Zach and Tyler are coming too, but I'm not sure," Ned says as they step out of the classroom into the hallway, already packed with students. He pauses for a moment before continuing, "You know, it's enough time for you to… hang out. In Queens. For a while. If you know what I mean. We were planning to meet up at 8."

Peter chuckles, but shakes his head. "I'm gonna spend the weekend at the lakehouse. I'll only have time to pack a bag when I get home, so no hanging out in Queens today, I guess," he explains, tugging the hem of Ned's jacket, silently indicating he needs to stop by his locker.

Ned hums as Peter inputs his passcode on the lock. "I thought you were going to be around again this time. It's been a while since you went there, yeah?"

"Not that long," Peter says, pulling out his Chemistry and Calculus textbooks. His Physics one is already inside his bag, and with three different exams scheduled for the following week, he will have no choice but get some revision done during the weekend. "It's because Pepper went on a business trip, and Tony had to tag along, for some reason. Guess it was pretty important."

Tony mentioned something about going with Pepper to California to deal with some issues of the company - Peter didn't really understand what those entailed, only that the couple would be gone for two weeks. They left Morgan in Mrs. Rhodes' care, who is by all means Morgan's honorary grandmother. She invited Peter over multiple times the past few days to hang out with them, but due to the pile of homework he had to complete, the countless of tests his teachers were scheduling  _ plus  _ patrols, he had no time to barely breathe, let alone visit them. It didn't stop him from feeling bad, though.

Peter doesn't think he has sleep for more than four hours during the past week while trying to balance all aspects of his life, and it's getting to him. Despite the stamina that came with the spider bite, he can still only push himself so far. He feels quite lethargic due to the exhaustion, and just _can't_ _wait _to fall asleep in his room at the lakehouse tonight.

"Well, we'll miss you, man," Ned says as they start walking towards the exit again.

"I'll come back Sunday afternoon, though," Peter says as they head down the steps. "Maybe there'll be some time to hang out."

"Alright, you let me know," Ned says.

They hurriedly do their handshake when Ned spots his bus parking in front of the school, and Peter watches him run towards it in order to grab a seat, pushing some people by accident in the process. He smiles a bit to himself, but as soon as his friend is out of sight, he can feel the exhaustion creep on him again. 

He feels bad for not patrolling after school as usual, but at the same time he knows he wouldn't be able to do much. At best, he would stop some muggings before falling asleep on a random rooftop out of pure fatigue. He doesn't really want to be woken up by a desperate call from Tony asking if he's alright - not  _ again _ \- so Peter decides it's probably for the better.

.

Happy knocks on their door at 5 p.m. sharp, only a few minutes after Peter is done packing his bag. From his room, he hears May opening the front door and greeting Happy excitingly, as if they hadn't seen each other just yesterday. 

Peter cringes to himself. He still refuses to stop and think about  _ that _ . 

He pauses when he hears a third voice in the living room, loud and familiar. 

"_So, where's the kid? Please don't tell me he forgot we were coming_."

At that, Peter stands up right away, heading to his door as May laughs, answering _ he's just getting ready_.  He walks through the short hallway and into the living room, pausing as the three adults turn around to face him.

"Tony," he breathes, a big smile on his face as he closes the distance between them. Tony catches him in a warm hug, chuckling against Peter's hair and patting him on the back. 

"Missed me much?"

"I didn't know you were coming!" he smiles as he steps back, glancing up at the other man. "Hey, Happy!"

"Hi, kiddo," Happy says. "How have you been?"

"Good, good," Peter says, despite everything. 

"You look a bit tired," Mr. Stark points out, not unkindly. "School's been tough?"

"He's been working hard," May answers for him, her tone proud but somewhat concerned at the same time. She pats him on the back softly while looking at Tony. "This weekend will be good to him, so make sure he rests a lot."

"Don't you worry, there will be no studying done under my watch," Tony reassures her, winking at Peter. "So, you ready?"

Peter nods, already turning towards his room. "I'll just get my bag!"

Turns out Tony was already in town to meet with someone and decided to wait for Peter so that they could head to the lakehouse together. However, he also finds out Happy will actually be staying behind with May, which is fine, but also totally weird. After hugging May goodbye, he tries to glare at Happy but only ends up receiving an amused - but also suspiciously nervous - chuckle and a hair ruffle from the man. 

Once finally on their way to the lake house, Peter can't help but nod along sleepily as Tony talks away about his time with Pepper in California, sat comfortably on the passenger seat of one of Tony's many fancy cars. They're not even out of town when he finally dozes off, head resting on top of his hoodie crumpled up against the window.

He doesn't know how much time has passed once he wakes up, but they're on the road. The sun is setting on their left, and the sky is all shades of purple and orange. Music is playing softly from the speakers, and Tony glances at him once Peter raises his head.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, thanks for conking out on me," he says. 

Peter smiles, stretching his arms in front of him with a groan. "Sorry, it's been a long day."

"I'm just kidding," Tony says, but Peter already knows. "Sleep more if you want. We have around half an hour left before we get there."

Peter nods, raising his hands to rub up and down his arms. Even though the AC is off, he feels colder than usual. 

He catches Tony looking at him again through his peripheral vision, and soon he's supplying helpfully, "There's a blanket in the glove department."

"Oh, thanks," Peter says around a yawn. 

He opens the glove department and pulls out a carefully folded Paw Patrol blanket, certainly Morgan's. It's thick enough though, so Peter doesn't hesitate before covering his upper body with it, resting his head on the same place as before. He's out again a few minutes later.

.

The next time he wakes up is by Tony shaking him gently, a hand on his shoulder. Once Peter's eyes flutter open and focus, he realizes they've arrived at the lake house, and night has fallen.

"We're here, bud," Tony announces, opening the door on his side to step out.

Soon enough, the dark landscape is illuminated by the warm light coming from the inside of the house as the front door opens and a tiny figure steps out. Morgan comes running directly towards Peter as he steps out of the car, and despite all the fatigue, he picks her up easily. 

"Pete! I've missed you," she says, loosening the grip her short arms have around his neck only to kiss him on the cheek with a loud  _ smack _ .

He giggles despite himself, twirling them both around. "Me too," he says. "Sorry for not visiting you at Mrs. Rhodes house."

"It's okay," she says. 

Peter puts her down and she runs to greet Tony just as Pepper steps out of the house, heading towards the car. Peter meets her halfway in a gentle embrace, sighing softly against her shoulder. 

"How have you been, sweetheart?" she asks, pulling Peter back to look at him properly. She brushes a curl away from his forehead, studying his face attentively. "May told me you've been so busy with school."

"Yeah, it's been hard, but I'm almost done with most tests," he shrugs, smiling softly. 

He's sure Pepper knows how tired he feels when she says, "After dinner you'll go to bed right away, yeah? We can do whatever you kids want to do tomorrow."

"Yeah," he breathes, smiling gratefully. He turns around to face the car, "I just have to get my-"

"Tony will bring your bag inside for you," Pepper interrupts, raising her voice so that said man can hear. She wraps an arm around Peter's shoulders, leading him to the front door. "Right, honey?"

"Yeah," Tony grunts, and Peter looks behind his shoulder only too see him balancing Peter's bag on his right shoulder and Morgan on the left one.

.

Peter feels weirdly dizzy when he steps out of his room after showering and changing into some comfy clothes. He suspects it might be because he hasn't eaten in a while, or because he hasn't slept for a long time the previous night despite his nap on their way from the city, but, either way, he feels like crap. 

He plops down on the couch next to Morgan, who's attentively watching My Little Pony on Netflix. He can hear Tony and Pepper cooking in the kitchen, and the smell of homemade tomato sauce drifting from there.

Peter closes his eyes, resting the back of his head against the soft cushion of the couch. He hears Morgan giggling at a particular funny line and Pepper complaining about something Tony's done in the kitchen, but soon these sounds become muted and he starts to fall asleep.

He almost dozes off when he startles himself with a violent sneeze.

Morgan jumps from where she's sat next to him, looking at him with wide eyes before saying, "Bless you."

"Thanks, Mo," he says, the sound coming off a bit nasal.

He makes a quick trip to the bathroom to blow his nose, and settles on the same spot next to Morgan when he comes back. This time, he falls asleep without any interruptions.

"Bud, dinner is ready," Tony's voice drags him back to reality. "You're really worn out, hm?"

Peter groans in response, feeling the man's brushing through his hair. A moment passes, then the hand pauses. 

"You're a bit warm," Tony observes. His hand travels down to press against Peter's forehead, then his cheek. "How're you feeling?"

After a moment of consideration, Peter opens his eyes tentatively. "Head hurts a bit. I'm feeling kinda weak, too," he admits after a few moments of hesitation, not feeling like hiding it.

"Well, you might be coming down with a fever," Tony sighs, a worried crease between his brows. "Pep, can you get me the thermometer?"

Pepper, who had just entered the room with the plates to set the table, frowns at them. "What happened?"

"Kiddo's a bit warm. He's not feeling very good, either," Tony replies, hand gently landing back on Peter's hair. 

"Oh no, sweetheart," she sighs, placing the plates down on the table. "I'll be right back."

Morgan makes her way from the dining table, where she was excitingly waiting for her spaghetti plate, to the armchair near Peter and Tony. She looks down at Peter with a frown, so similar to her dad's - Peter softly smiles up at her, reassuringly.

Pepper comes back only a few moments later with the thermometer. She turns it in and hands it to Peter, who closes his lips around it with a sigh. 

"Come help me put the table, baby," she calls Morgan. "Peter's just fine, hm?"

Morgan follows after her mom silently, not before throwing one last fearful glance behind her shoulder. 

Once the thermometer beeps, Peter pulls it off and Tony takes it to check the reading. 

"105.3," he pronounces. "Well, you do run a little hotter than us, but that's a little bit high for you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Tony sighs, looking down at him empathetically. "I would only really start worrying if it goes above 106, though. I think with some proper food in your system and a long night of sleep you'll be just fine."

"God, I hope so," Peter groans, rubbing his hands across his face. "That would suck."

He hears Tony chuckle, and in the next moment the man is standing up. "C'mon, before Morguna eats all the food."

. 

Peter usually helps to wash the dishes after dinner when he's over at the lake house, but this time Tony brushes him off. 

"I can handle a few dishes on my own," he says, patting Peter on the shoulder and turning him towards the staircase. "Go on, I'll check on you after I'm done."

Peter can only nod sleepily in response, slowly starting to climb the steps behind Morgan and Pepper. The little girl is already proclaiming which bedtime story she wants to read this time, and once they reach upstairs she turns around to look up at Peter.

"Do you wanna read, too?" she asks, reaching out to take Peter's hand in her own tiny one.

Peter's heart breaks a little. Throughout dinner, he tried to speak up and join the conversation not to frighten Morgan with his condition, but it wasn't much. Looking down at her, he can easily understand she doesn't want to let him out of her sight just yet.

Pepper puts a hand on top of Morgan's head, gently brushing her hair back while giving Peter a reassuring look. "Peter needs to rest, sweetheart," she then says, looking down at Morgan. "You can play with him tomorrow, alright? Say goodnight."

Morgan pouts, reluctantly letting go of Peter's hand. "Goodnight," she says.

Peter smiles tiredly, reaching out to pat her in the head. He'd usually give her a hug and a kiss, but he doesn't want to risk spreading any germs. "Goodnight, Mo."

After turning around and heading to his room, Peter doesn't even bother to turn on the lights. He makes a beeline for his bed and crashes into it, then tiredly arranges the covers on top of his body. 

He wakes up to someone touching his hand. He startles, eyes shooting open, but once his vision focuses he sees Tony sitting on the edge of his bed in the semi-darkness, holding Peter's wrist against his chest. The lights from the hallway are entering his bedroom through the narrow opening of the door, and thanks to that Peter is able to see the watch Tony is slipping on his wrist. 

"What…?" he begins, trying to sit down.

"Hey, it's alright," Tony reassures him, easing him back against his pillow with a hand on his shoulder. "Didn't mean to wake you up. This is to track your vitals during the night, okay? FRIDAY will let me know if your temperature rises."

"Oh," Peter replies, bringing his wrist closer to his face to inspect it. 

"How do you feel?"

"About the same," Peter replies, eyelids already starting to feel unbearably heavy again. 

Tony sighs, tucking the covers up to Peter's chin before standing up. "Even though you have the watch, let me know in case you need anything, yeah?"

Peter hums in response, eyes fluttering close. The last thing he hears is Tony softly wishing him a goodnight and the door behind closed with a muted click after he steps out of the room. 

.

The next time he wakes from sleep, is to quiet voices talking in his room. 

Before even opening his eyes, the next thing Peter feels is a pounding headache and how...  _ damp _ his clothes feel. He whimpers softly at the pain, and suddenly he hears someone shushing him and a hand brushing through his hair. 

"Pete, come on, I need to give you some medicine," Tony's voice says. "Can you sit up?"

Peter tries, but there slightest movement he makes with his head makes the headache pound at his skull. "Hurts," he manages to groan softly.

"I know, kiddo," Tony replies. "The medicine will help."

He blinks his eyes open, and he spots Tony sitting on the exact spot to when he was slipping the watch on Peter's wrist. Behind him, Pepper is standing up with her arms crossed over her chest, looking over them with a frown.

"I'll get him another shirt," she says once as Tony helps him up. 

Looking down, Peter realizes his shirt is almost soaked in cold sweat.

"Come on, arms up," Tony tells him quietly, minding his headache, tugging at the hem of his shirt. 

Peter weakly lifts his arms in front of him, and Tony drags the fabric up his chest, through his head and then through his arms until he's shirtless. He whimpers, feeling colder than ever, but soon enough there's another shirt - completely dry this time, thank God - going over his head.

The movements make Peter feel a bit dizzy, so he closes his eyes as he leans back against the pillows Pepper arranged against the headboard of the bed. 

"Don't fall asleep, Pete," Tony urges. When Peter's eyes flutter open, he sees Tony opening a small pill bottle. "Give me your hand."

He drops two pills on the palm of Peter's hand and gives him a glass of water. 

"This should work for your metabolism. Superhero Ibuprofen, if you will," he says conversationally as Peter swallows the pills. "Courtesy of Bruce. Your Aunt should have some back in Queens, too."

Peter feels a wave of warmth wash over him. Knowing that there are people thinking ahead for him, taking care of this kind of stuff even though he thought he would never get this sick ever again, makes him feel a little bit better despite the pain. 

Peter didn't even noticed Pepper was gone, but suddenly she steps out of the adjoined bathroom of his room with a wet cloth and a hand towel. 

"Come here, sweetheart," she guides him forwards gently so that Peter is sitting on the bed but not leaning back against the pillows. She uses the towel to wipe off some of the sweat from his collarbones, neck and his face. 

While she does it, Tony hurries to change his pillowcase, so that when Peter's eased back to lay down on his back again, he's not grossly covered in cold sweat anymore. The slightly cold wet cloth is placed against his burning forehead, and as Tony adjusts it against his skin Peter can already feel himself drifting off.

"Th'nks," he manages to murmur before falling asleep.

.

Peter's temperature doesn't rise again throughout the night, but he doesn't sleep very well. He turns around a lot and the movements only serve to make him even more dizzy. When morning comes, instead of waking up to FRIDAY or Pepper announcing that breakfast is ready as usual, the door opens slowly and Tony steps into the room with a bowl on one of his hands. Peter wasn't deeply asleep to begin with, so his eyes flutter open at the noise.

Peter only blinks up at Tony as he sits down on the edge of the mattress and places the bowl on the nightstand. Through his mostly clogged nose, Peter can smell oatmeal, banana and honey.

"Your temperature dropped," Tony observes, voice almost a whisper. He raises a hand to brush Peter's messy curls away from his forehead, and he notices that the wet cloth placed there during the night is gone. "Feeling any better?"

"Head doesn't hurt anymore," Peter replies. "It feels kinda heavy though. Feeling kinda weak."

"That's because you haven't eaten anything since dinner," Tony observes promptly. "Try eating this and then going back to sleep, alright? You gotta sleep it off, rest as much as you can."

"Kay," Peter agrees, only because he just wants to get over this sickness as soon as possible.

"Good kid," Tony praises. "You should get sick more often. You're never this compliant."

Peter scoffs. "Ha ha," he says, slowly getting up. "You know I-"

He interrupts himself when the door creaks as it's slowly pushed open. Both he and Tony turn around to look, and sure enough Morgan is peeking through the narrow opening, wide eyes fixed on Peter.

"Mo, weren't you eating breakfast?" Tony asks. 

"I finished already," she replies, unusually quiet.

Tony sighs fondly, reaching his hand towards her. "C'mere."

Morgan hesitantly steps inside the room as Peter reaches for the oatmeal bowl on his nightstand.

"Your brother's fine," Tony reassures her, pulling her up to sit on his lap once she's close enough. "He's improved a lot already, yeah? It happens. He'll be up soon enough, climbing up walls and giving us all heart attacks."

Peter smiles. "Yeah, don't worry," he agrees, holding back a wince at how hoarse his voice sounds. "We'll get to play before I leave."

"Today?" 

"I'm afraid not yet today, baby," Tony answers for him. "Maybe tomorrow. Petey needs to sleep as much as he can to be strong again."

Morgan huffs, but nods. "Okay."

She only stays for a few more minutes, still looking terribly sulky as she goes away to find her mom. Peter sighs after swallowing a spoonful of food, feeling terrible about the whole ordeal. He was supposed to be perfectly  _ fine _ , playing on the edge of the lake with Morgan during the morning and then coming back inside to revise for his exams during the afternoon, only to spend the evening before and a little bit after dinner with Tony in the garage. He missed them all so much, but now he's making them spend their time looking after his sorry self. 

Being sick really fucking  _ sucks _ .

"Stop sighing, you're depressing me," Tony pipes up a while afterwards, looking up from the phone he pulled out of his pocket. "Don't blame yourself for this, alright? Pep and I were expecting this. She spent a long time away from everything familiar to her, but even now that we're back her routine is still not back to normal. It would be kinda weird if she wasn't acting up a little bit."

Peter thinks a little about it. Before Tony and Pepper had to leave for California, Peter saw them practically every weekend and therefore was able to spend a lot of time with Morgan. She's still probably facing the same separation anxiety as he is, but worse. Not surprising for a five year-old.

"Still sucks," he concludes grumpily. "I hate being sick. I didn't think I would fall sick again after the bite."

"Me neither," Tony sighs. "But it's alright. The good news is that you're improving really quickly, so you should be fine by dinner."

"Yeah," Peter nods, putting the bowl back on the nightstand. He rubs his hands over his face. "Gosh, I feel so  _ tired _ ."

"As expected," Tony sighs, patting his ankle above the covers before standing up. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you up for lunch."

.

Peter naps during the day as advised, but again, it's a weird kind of sleep. He can't get comfortable no matter what, and his head starts to hurt again. He dutifully eats the soup Pepper brings him a few hours later, but he's quite dizzy and doesn't even manage to finish it. Tony gives him another dose of medicine and tells him to go back to sleep, looking down at him with a worried frown Peter thought he wouldn't see again this weekend because he's supposed to be feeling _better already_.

Well, his condition does improve a little bit, but he still feels like utter crap. Tony thought he would be as good as new by dinner, but he doesn't make it to the dining table. They bring him more soup, and afterwards Tony convinces him to take a shower. Peter manages to shower on his own, leaving the door unlocked in case he crashes, but thankfully that doesn't happen while he's under the showerhead. However, it's once he's weakly pulling a pair of clean sweatpants over his boxers that he loses his balance, colliding painfully against the sink before descending to the ground.

"Fuck," he hears Tony say, and in the next second the man is dressing Peter's trembling frame in a shirt and hoodie. Peter didn't even notice he had entered the bathroom. "Are you okay? Did you hit your head?"

Peter shakes his head softly, but his vision suddenly becomes blurry as his eyes well up with tears.

"Kiddo, what's wrong? What hurts?"

"Everything," he whimpers, quite pathetically. But it's true -  _ everything  _ hurts. His head feels heavy and fuzzy, his nose is clogged all the time, he feels like he's fucking  _ freezing _ , and while he was supposed to rest during the day, his fucked up brain decided to give him disturbing nightmares instead. 

He starts crying out of pure exhaustion, mental and physical. This weekend was supposed to help him relax and recharge, but so far it only made him more miserable and turned him into a huge bother to Tony and Pepper. 

"Hey, hey, hey," Tony says, sounding quite startled. He wraps a hand around Peter's shoulders, crouching besides him on the bathroom floor. "Don't cry, buddy. It's alright, I'm here. Tell me what's wrong."

"I'm so fucking  _ tired _ ," Peter whines, choking on a sob. "I just wanna rest but I  _ can't _ ."

"Oh, Pete," Tony sighs, pulling into into a warm embrace. Peter rests his cheek on his chest, hiccuping softly as tears run down his cheeks. "It's okay. You're getting better. I know it sucks, but it'll be over soon."

He runs a hand up and down Peter's trembling back, squeezing him against his chest for a moment before pulling back. He wipes Peter's tears away with his thumbs, even if they keep on coming.

"Come on, let's put you to bed," he says, standing up and pulling Peter up with him.

Tony tucks Peter in, but follows suit and lies down next to him on the bed once he's settled and covered in blankets like a human burrito. He wraps his arms around his covered frame, tucking Peter's head under his chin.

"Try to rest now, yeah? I'll be right here with you," he reassures Peter. "If it doesn't work, I'll still be here."

Peter sniffles. "Okay," he whispers back. "'’M sorry."

Tony clicks his tongue, pressing a kiss against the top of his head. "You have nothing to apologize for," he says. "It's not your fault you got sick. It probably had to do with some weak self care skills, but it wasn't your intention. We'll work around that, yeah? Don't you worry."

"Okay," Peter says again, sleepier by the second. "Th'nk you, Tony. Love you," he adds as an afterthought.

He both hears and feels Tony chuckle lightly. "Love you too, kiddo."  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> important note: i don't have a beta reader so pls excuse any mistakes! it's prob because i overlooked it :')
> 
> thank you for reading!
> 
> i'm back again to update this series :-) i really enjoy writing oneshots for it. if you have any suggestions for future works, let me know!
> 
> come hmu on [tumblr](https://parkernotes.tumblr.com)


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